MICHAEL DUCLOS: LUSTRO

DuClos' first release, Lustro, is a collection of his music and poems read by Deborah Harry, Kristin Hersh, Eszter Balint, J.G.Thirlwell, Vito Acconci, Peter Gallagher, David Lowery, Joan Osborne and Elizabeth Ashley, as well as DuClos himself. Both the poems and music are based on, and reflect, DuClos' time spent in various eastern European capitals, as well as his experiences growing up in the distinctly working class industrial north end of Albany, New York (the famed ninth ward).

Using dissonance, found noises and various homemade loops constructed on four-track machines, in tandem with engaging, lush melodies, DuClos has succeeded in creating a sort of opaque translucence, attaining dramatic clarity amid the muck and mire, all the while taking the listener through an aural cinematic experience. DuClos' unique approach in coupling poems and music far surpasses any of the usual fare offered up in the so called "spoken word" genre. Lustro is almost without category. Yet while it may not lay in bed with the first Latin Playboys record, it certainly shares a room in the same house. One can only hope that it manages to skirt the weight of the spoken word moniker.

Also present throughout is the ingenious guitar work of legend Robert Quine - of Richard Hell and the Voidoids and Lou Reed fame - whose ability to create sonic landscapes is at times breathtaking, other times jarring. Quine's signature use of loops and multiple delays, and searing full-throttle assaults is in full evidence on Lustro.
-Larry Nye, Boston Globe


Produced by DuClos and Rob Arthur
with additional production by JD Foster


WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY:

"Brilliant." - Lisa Germano

"This is a rare instance where the usually detestable "spoken word" genre melds well with the music supplied - to great effect." - Michael Gira (Swans)

"Excellent...very interesting." - Charles Simic (poet)

"Bizarre." - William Kennedy (author, Ironweed)

"It's odd. I like that." - Koool G Murder (The EELs)

"With Lustro, Michael DuClos has created a beautifully horrifying noir world for us to inhabit in the near future - dark, acerbic, and affecting." - Elliott Sharp

"It scares me!" - Natalie Merchant

"Remarkable....sensational." - Michael Azerrad (author, Our Band Could Be Your Life)

"Debbie Harry won't do my records." - Hal Wilner